Sui’s Booming DeFi Ecosystem Harnesses Institutional Adoption, Surpasses $2B TVL
Three months after hitting $1 billion, TVL on Sui doubles as institutions and builders add liquidity to the network.
Sui achieved a historic milestone, surpassing $2 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama. This achievement marks a doubling of Sui’s TVL in just three months, cementing its position as the fastest growing blockchain by this key metric and demonstrating sustained demand for its DeFi and application ecosystem.
“When we launched Sui in 2023, we knew the technology would push the industry forward, but the organic groundswell of developers, ecosystem partners, and on-chain DeFi activity in such a short period is a remarkable feat for the community,” said Christian Thompson, Managing Director of the Sui Foundation. “While very early in its arc, Sui is the most exciting ecosystem in crypto right now because it’s the first base layer that can compete with – and eventually replace – the legacy systems that billions of people depend on today.”
A thriving DeFi ecosystem
In November, monthly DEX trading volumes on Sui surged to over $7.8 billion – up from $4.9 billion in October and $1.9 billion in September – placing it among the top 10 blockchains. Sui reached these milestones thanks to innovative lending protocols and DEXes such as NAVI, Suilend, and Cetus – whose TVLs all exceed $240 million – and DeepBook, DeFi's answer to a central limit order book.
Additionally, Phantom, one of the most beloved wallets in crypto with over seven million active users, announced its planned expansion to Sui in early December. With over 560 million total onchain transactions year-to-date, and key features such as staking, in-app token swaps, NFT storage, multichain support, and Ledger hardware wallet integration, Phantom represented a significant milestone for the Sui network.
Stablecoins – the backbone of a strong DeFi ecosystem – are thriving on Sui. In the last year, Circle’s USDC and First Digital’s FDUSD both natively deployed on Sui. The blockchain now has three leading stablecoins in its ecosystem, which recently eclipsed $162 million in stablecoins natively issued and an overall stablecoin market cap of $415 million.
Institutions are choosing Sui
The sharp rise of institutional interest in Sui also played a significant role in the network’s growth, with industry giants such as Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and VanEck incorporating the SUI token into investment products that are accessible to millions of their clients, all without them needing to own or manage crypto wallets.
Earlier this year, Copper announced it integrated with Sui to enable robust custody infrastructure support for stablecoins and Real-World Asset (RWA) issuers on Sui such as Ondo’s USDY.
Other notable institutional partners include Zero Hash and Fordefi, which are building the on-chain infrastructure required to support the influx of native stablecoins and financial offerings now available on Sui.
Strength across diverse sectors
Since its mainnet launch, Sui has already become a premier destination for application builders in gaming, DeFi, collectibles, memecoins, and real-world applications such as 3D printing and tokenized securities. In 2024 alone, Major League Soccer (MLS), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and ONE Championship have all either announced, launched, or expanded upon fan loyalty programs powered by the Sui network.
In September, 2024, Mysten Labs unveiled its SuiPlay0X1, a first-of-its-kind handheld gaming console that supports a wide range of PC games, and new AAA titles developed using Sui technology.
